5.  The applicant was born in 1949 and lives in Ostróda. In the 1990s the applicant was suffering from lung cancer. During his treatment he was infected with type B hepatitis.
6.  On 17 February 1998 the applicant lodged a claim for compensation against the hospital. He was represented by counsel, Z.K. On 22 September 1998 the Olsztyn Regional Court awarded the applicant compensation in the amount of twenty percent of his claim. The applicant appealed.
7.  On 24 August 1999 the court issued a supplementary judgment declaring that in view of the reform of the health care system the State Treasury was liable jointly with the hospital for damage suffered by the applicant.
8.  By a judgment of 29 December 1999 the Warsaw Court of Appeal held that the amount of compensation did not correspond to the damage which the applicant had suffered. Nevertheless, it dismissed the appeal. It pointed to the fact that the applicant had wrongly named one of the defendants, namely the hospital.
9.  Subsequently, the applicant asked Z.K. on several occasions, including by letter, to take further steps and to lodge another appeal. He also contacted the local Bar, complaining about the lawyer's conduct. Finally, he authorised Z.K. to represent him in the cassation proceedings.
10.  The cassation appeal was lodged on 4 August 2000.
11.  On 27 April 2001 the Supreme Court dismissed it, partly because the lawyer had wrongly challenged the first-instance court judgment instead of the judgment of the appellate court and partly because the statement of appeal had not fulfilled the applicable formal requirements.
12.  The decision was served on Z.K. on 30 May 2001 but he failed to inform the applicant of this. As a result, the applicant only learned about the outcome of the proceedings on 9 July 2002 when he contacted the registry of the Supreme Court directly.
13.  On 24 June 2002 the applicant terminated his contract with Z.K.
14.  On 14 November 2002 the applicant lodged a claim for compensation against Z.K. with the Elbląg Regional Court. In a judgment delivered on 4 June 2003 the Elbląg Regional Court awarded compensation for non-pecuniary damage sustained by the applicant as a result of Z.K.'s failure to represent his interests in the proceedings diligently.
15.  On 7 October 2003 the applicant lodged an appeal against this judgment which was dismissed by the Gdańsk Court of Appeal on 9 March 2004. The decision was served on the applicant on 19 April 2004.
16.  On 20 April 2004 the applicant requested legal aid for the purposes of preparing a cassation appeal. On 30 April 2004 the Gdańsk Court of Appeal allowed his request and requested the Gdańsk Bar Association to assign a lawyer to the case. On 13 May 2004 the Bar assigned the case to M.K. On an unspecified date between 14 and 17 May 2004 M.K. was served with a copy of the second-instance judgment.
17.  On 19 May 2004 the applicant was served with a legal opinion prepared by M.K. and dated 17 May 2004 by which M.K. explained why he had found no grounds to prepare a cassation appeal.
18.  On 27 July 2004 the applicant complained to the Ministry of Justice about the refusal.
19.  As a result of this intervention with the Ministry, on 3 September 2004 the Gdańsk Court of Appeal requested M.K. to prepare the cassation appeal within seven days. In a written opinion of 6 September 2004 M.K. maintained his view that there were no grounds for a cassation appeal in this case.
20.  On 9 September 2004 the applicant asked the local Bar to assign another legal‑aid lawyer to the case.
21.  The Bar replied on 7 October 2004 that, having regard to the opinion expressed by the first lawyer, it saw no grounds for assigning new counsel to the applicant. It also reminded him that pursuant to the case-law of the Supreme Court it was permissible for a legal‑aid lawyer to refuse to prepare a cassation appeal if he or she considered that it offered no prospects of success.
22.  On 27 September 2004 the applicant asked for retrospective leave to lodge a cassation appeal out of time. On 28 October 2004 that request was rejected.